Wire-bender



2 Sheets-sh 1. M, T. DECK. WIRE BENDER.

( 0 ModeL) Patented Aug. 25, 1896.

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Hm EEI WM m u I est.

2 Sheets-Sh1eet 2. M T DECK WIRE BENDER.

(N0 Model.)

Patented Aug. 25, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT l FFrcE.

MARION T. DECK, OF MILTON, INDIANA.

WIRE-BEN DER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 566,379, dated August 25, 1896.

SerialNo. 586,907. (Nomodeld T0 aZZ whom it mag concern.-

Be it known that I, MARION T. DECK, a

citizen of the United States, residingat Milton, in the county of YVayne and State of In- In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a sec tionized side elevation of my wire-bender, a portion of a post to which it is attached being broken away. Fig. 2 is a plan of the machine, a wire .being applied thereto and the free end of the hand-lever being broken away. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the bender, taken in the plane of said lever. Fig. 4. is a front elevation of the machine, a jaw of the same being sectioned vertically in the plane of its pivot. Fig. 5 is an enlarged section of a spring-stirrup that retains said jaw in its normal or open position. and 9 are diagrams showing the successive operations of bendingawire in the machine. Figs. 10 and 11 are perspective views of this bent wire or stay.

The housing of the bender is avertical plate A, capable of being fastened to a post or other support B, and O D are parallel flanges projecting horizontally from said-plate, and preferably integral therewith, the upper flange 0 being provided with a circular bore to admit a cylindrical hub E. This hub is integral with a pinion F, having a gudgeon f, journaled in the lower flange D,the upperend of said hub being armed with a pair of pins 6 e, that perform the initial bending of a wire.

Adapted to swing freely between the two flanges and engage with the pinion F is a segmental rack G, having a hand-lever g and shoulder g, the latter being a small steel plate properly fastened to said lever.

g" is a pivot around which the rack G swings in a horizontal plane.

Figs. 6, 7, 8,

c c are pins projecting vertically from flange O, and H H are lugs at the front of said flange, the lug H being grooved horizontally at h for a purpose that will presently appear.

'I is a stop located near the lug H and connecting the flanges C D.

J is a jaw pivoted to the lower flange at d and having its upper end j so shaped as to enter between the lugs H and H, While a lateral projection j of said jaw bears against the grooved lug H. j is a lug at the lower end of the jaw, and K is a coiled spring, one end of which bears against this lug j, while the other end-of said spring is in contact with a tapering key or wedge L. The front edge of this key is notched at Z, so as to be readily adjusted within the bend m'of two rods M M, as more clearly seen in Fig. 5, the rear ends of these rods being hooked at m m to engage with a bar or bars a of the plate A.

N is a rod connecting the lug j with a treadle n, the latter being suitably hinged to the post or other standard 13.

O is a gage-plate having a dovetail tenon o fitted within a mortise of the flange O, as seen in Fig. 4c, in order that said plate can be readily adjusted back and forth, as occasion requires. After being thus adjusted the plate is held in place by a screw 0. (Seen in Fig. 2.) This plate may be about, one foot long, and its upper surface is armed with two rows of stop-pins P P, the pins P being nearertogether than the pins P.

My machine is operated in the following manner, the normal position of its various parts being seen in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, reference to which illustrations show that the jaw J is now open and the pins o e of the bendinghub E are disposed as shown in Fig. 2. A wire R is then laid flatly upon the upper flange O, and its advancing end is carried along the gage-plate O a greater or less distance, according to circumstances. If the first bend in the wire is to be made quite near this advancing end, the wire will be brought to bear against a stop P or P, that is the proper distance from the center of the hub E; but if the bend is to be more remote from this center the advancing end of the wire is drawn still farther along the plate 0 until it reaches a stop that is six, eight, or ten inches from said center. The distance having been thus readily gaged the operator then grasps the handle 9 and swings it horizontally in the direction of the arrow seen in Fig. 3, the result being a half-revolution of the hub E. Now, as the wire passes diametrically across said hub between its pins 6 e, it will be understood that the circularly-moving pin 6 brings one side of said wire in contact with the fixed pin 0, while the other moving pin, 6, brings the opposite side of the wire against the other fixed pin, 0. Consequently the wire now assumes the S shape, more clearly seen in Fig. 6, where R is the advancing portion of said wire, R the trailing portion, R an intermediate part, and r r the two bends formed by the action of the various moving and fixed pins of the machine. Attention is here called to the fact that these parts R R R r 'rare all in the same plane, and the straight portions R R R of the wire are parallel with each other. Having thus formed one of the S-shaped portions, the wire is raised clear of the pins and moved forward until the bend 1' comes in contact with the proper gagepin P, as seen in Fig. 2, after which act the lever g is swung back, so as to restore the hub E to its normal position. The wire is then reengaged with the hub-pins, and the above-described operations are repeated as often as required, the jaw J being inactive while the bending devices are at work; but after bending a sufficient number of wires one of their S-shaped portions is inserted in the machine in the manner seen in Fig. 6, the part R of said portion being now seated within the groove h, while the bend r projects somewhat beyond the right side of the lug H. The treadle n is then depressed, thereby closing the jaw J and causing its lateral projection j to grasp the wire R and clamp it within the groove h. At the same time the part j of the jaw acts against the wire, asindicated by the dotted line in Fig. 7. This pressure causes the wire to be bent back at r until it comes in contact with the stop I, and the wire, being still held in this position, is next subjected to the action of the lever g, the latter being swung forward by the hand of the operator. This swinging movementIcauses the shoulder g of said lever to bear against the portions R R of the wire and bend them against the upper part of the jaw until said portions are practically at right angles to their former positions. (See Figs. 8 and 9.) This act completes the formation of the peculiarly-shaped bend and the jaw being opened by the action of spring K the wire is liberated, moved forward, and the second bent portion thereof is operated 011 in the above-described manner. The wire now has the shape seen in Fig. 10, the loop 0" having been formed by the operation seen in Fig. 7. When this wire is used as a fence-stay, a stringer of the fence is passed through the loop 1", and the portions R R of said wire are about vertical. A key (indicated by the other dotted line T, Fig. 11) may be passed down through the bend 'r, or the two horizontal portions of the wire may be twisted around a stringer-wire. Finally, by simply forcing the wedge L down within the stirrup M M the stiffness of the spring K can be increased to any desired degree.

I claim as my invention M 1. A wire-bender housing having a pair of pins 0, c, and a single reciprocating rotary hub E j ournaled in it, the hub being provided, near its periphery, with a pair of pins 6, e, and'the housing-pins c 0 being situated on opposite sides of said hub, all as herein described, and for the purpose stated.

2. The combination, in a wire-bender, of a housing A, O, D, having a pair of pins 0, c, a hub E turning in the plates C, D of said housing, and having a pair of pins 0, c, a pinion F integral with said hub; and a segmental rack G gearing with said pinion, for the purpose described.

3. The combination, in a wire-bender, of a housing, having a lug H, grooved at h, and a jaw J pivoted to said housing, and adapted to hold a wire within said groove, as described.

4. The combination, in a wire-bender, of a housing A, O, D, a lever G swinging between the plates 0, D of said housing, and a stop I uniting said plates, for the purpose described.

5. The combination, in a wire-bender, of a housing; a jaw pivoted thereto; a stirrup M M, between which the lower portion of said jaw swings; a coiled spring K, surrounding said stirrup; and a wedge L applied to the latter, the edge of said wedge being provided with a series of notches Z, to engage with the bend m of said stirrup, and thereby regulate the tension of said spring, all as herein described.

6. The combination, in a wire-bender, of a housing and a laterally-adjustable gage-plate 0, provided with stops P, for the purpose described.

7. The combination, in a wire-bender, of the housing A O D c c, the bending device E ee F fjournaled therein; the segmental rack G gearing with the pinion F; the jaw J, and a treadle for operating said jaw, in the manner described.

8. The combination, in a wire-bender, of a housing having a pair of parallel flanges O, D; a jaw J pivoted to the lower flange D, and adapted to clamp a wire against the end of the upper flange C; and a lever g, swinging between said flanges and having a lateral shoulder g,that operates against said clamped wire, in the manner described, and for the purpose stated.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MARION T. DECK. Witnesses:

J AMES H. LAYMAN, JoHN 0. ROGERS. 

